The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are seeking asylum in the United States. The State Department is expected to coordinate the action with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), targeting B1 and B2 visas issued since 2016. State Department officials said the revocations will occur on a rolling basis.
The move follows a series of recent changes to asylum and visa policies under President Trump. Last month, the administration began directing asylum seekers into immigration court for deportation proceedings, bypassing interviews with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Over the past year, the State Department has also revoked approximately 175,000 visas for individuals accused or convicted of crimes, as well as those who criticized U.S. policies in the Middle East.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stated that the agency is working with DHS to identify visitors who arrived on short-term visas but then filed for permanent asylum. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stated on social media that the asylum system has been "swamped by frivolous asylum claims," leading to long adjudication periods. Currently, B1 and B2 visa applicants must affirm they will not seek asylum and demonstrate intent to return to their home countries.
The day-to-day impact for asylum seekers will be a shift in their legal standing as their pending cases are recategorized to reflect their asylum-seeker status rather than visitor status. This occurs as the administration also funnels more migrants into immigration courts without preliminary interviews, potentially speeding up the path to deportation proceedings. For the broader immigration system, this sets a precedent of using visa revocations to manage the asylum backlog and addresses what officials call a "loophole" used to circumvent standard immigration laws.
The knock-on effects include increased pressure on the immigration court system, which must now handle cases for individuals whose visitor visas have been invalidated. According to Landau, the current backlog allows applicants to live and work in the country for years while waiting for a decision. The State Department has not provided a specific start date for the mass revocations, but Pigott noted the process will be "dynamic" and conducted on a rolling basis. Further details on the exact timeline for individual notifications are not yet known.